278: Chapter 278 A Deeply Understanding Companion

The midnight bell tolled silently in the virtual world.

At this moment, it was as if an invisible command had spread to every corner of China.

From the skyscrapers of bustling cities to the self-built houses in remote towns,

in countless rooms, some lit and some dark, before mobile phones with glowing screens,

tens of millions of fingers pressed down heavily on the long-awaited unlock button at the exact same second.

An unprecedented and terrifying torrent of data,

roared toward Xinchao Publishing House's server clusters, which had just been expanded tenfold.

"Buzz—"

Without warning, everyone's phone screens collectively turned blank.

Time seemed to freeze.

In this second, the breath of every technician in the New Tide command center hitched.

In this second, Lin Jianguo's finger, held mid-air in the living room of Xisheng Mansion, froze.

In this second, on a sofa in Jinling, Ye Xi's heart skipped a beat.

"Did it crash?"

"No way?!"

"Holy sh*t! New Tide, you..."

Hearts across the entire internet seemed to stop beating as countless people gasped in front of their screens,

thinking that this highly anticipated cultural feast would ultimately end in a farcical server crash.

However, this suffocating white screen lasted for only a second.

The next moment, the page refreshed smoothly.

The cover, with the coarse texture of the Loess Plateau, leapt into everyone's sight like a giant emerging from the depths of history.

Beneath the cover was a dense list of locked chapters.

Inside the New Tide command center, the dead silence was broken by a lung-tearing roar.

"It held! We held on!"

The data supervisor gripped the edge of the console with both hands. On the central large screen, the numbers representing instantaneous concurrency fluctuated wildly,

soaring from 300,000 directly to 2.7 million, then to 6.5 million...

That red line wasn't climbing at all; it was jumping straight up from where it stood,

piercing through the very top of the screen before the axes could even adapt.

"Boom!"

The entire command center instantly erupted in a tsunami-like cheer.

Technicians threw down their mice and embraced each other excitedly; some even wept with joy.

Wang De'an's fists, clenched until they were white, finally relaxed slowly.

Looking at that red line disappearing into the horizon, he felt everything before him grow a bit blurry.

They had won.

They had won this massive gamble on the future of New Tide!

Jiangcheng, Xisheng Mansion.

"Oh, gave me a fright!"

Lin Jianguo slapped his thigh in excitement, his old face flushing red.

Not even bothering to put on his reading glasses, he tapped the [Subscribe to Full Book] button on the screen with a loud thudding sound.

[Confirm Payment]

The entire process was smooth and seamless.

A pop-up for successful payment appeared. Without even looking at it, he immediately took a screenshot

and dropped it into those three fan groups that had completely turned into the "Pen Name Support Club."

[Old Lin (Group Admin)]: "[Image] Giving Teacher Jian Shen some face! I've already subscribed!"

A clear screenshot of the successful subscription instantly set the entire group chat ablaze.

[Wind Chaser]: "Admin is awesome! I'm following suit!"

[Move Wherever There's Trouble]: "[Image] Subscribed! Contributing my humble bit for Teacher Jian Shen!"

[Wild Scholar]: "[Image] Charge! Let those who look down on us see what true reader power looks like!"

For a moment, in the three large groups of five hundred people, no words could be seen other than "Charge" and "Support."

Successful subscription screenshots, each with a different phone model watermark, flooded the screen.

Lin Que sat on the sofa, watching his father's excited look as if he were commanding thousands of troops.

He took a sip of plain boiled water, forcibly suppressing the laughter that had already reached his throat.

The photos being shared in the group were refreshing so fast the screen almost lagged, filled with thumbs-up and flower emojis.

Just then, a text-only message wedged itself into the middle of the frantically scrolling screenshots,

accompanied by a long string of glaring red exclamation marks.

[Reading with a Microscope]: "??? Wait! Brothers, stop for a second! Look at the bottom right corner of the subscription success pop-up. Is there a line of very small text? Is that a... serial number?"

This message instantly interrupted the flood of posts.

The group fell silent for a moment.

"Serial number? What serial number?"

Lin Jianguo was also stunned. He scrolled through the chat history, found the screenshot he had just sent, and zoomed in.

In the bottom right corner of the pop-up, a line of miniature dark gold font that almost blended into the background was clearly printed there.

[Pen Name Fellow Traveler ID: 00001542]

"Holy crap!"

Lin Jianguo cried out in surprise.

The group chat instantly exploded.

[Raw Melon Seed]: "I have one too! Mine is [Pen Name Fellow Traveler ID: 00015578]! What's going on?"

[Literary Wang Er]: "My god! Mine is 00039981! Is this number unique?"

[Wind Chaser]: "It's unique! I just bought it again using my wife's account, and the ID is already at 00070931!

New Tide is awesome! They actually made a unique digital brand for every legitimate reader!"

Exclusive! Unique!

These two words, like two depth charges, set off massive waves in the hearts of all the readers.

Everyone realized it instantly.

This was no longer just a simple paid subscription.

This unique string of numbers was a symbol of status, a witness to their participation in this cultural event,

and even more, a medal of honor engraved with their own name that they could show off to everyone!

After the first post discovering this ID appeared online,

many people with "straight numbers" and "leopard numbers" posted their screenshots under the thread.

This small design, originally intended just for commemorative purposes, was like a stroke of genius at this moment,

accurately hitting every reader's vanity, collector's instinct, and unparalleled sense of participation.

"Damn! My number is too ugly! No, I have to buy a set for my son too and see if I can snag a lucky number!"

"I just registered three alt accounts! Gambling for a 'leopard' number!"

"It's not about the money anymore! This is faith! This is status!"

Users who were originally watching from the sidelines or planning to wait until daylight went completely crazy after hearing this news.

To snag an early "lucky number," they began flooding the app to top up and subscribe.

Discussions about the "Pen Name Fellow Traveler ID" went viral within just a few minutes,

tonight, even before actually seeing the content,

showing off one's exclusive ID became the most fashionable "social currency" on the internet, one that best showcased one's taste.

Inside the New Tide command center.

Old Zhang leaned his hands on the desk, staring intently at the real-time data panel.

In his dozen or so years in the industry, the highest first-day subscription conversion rate he had ever seen was less than twenty percent.

But now, that glaring percentage was fluctuating wildly,

75... 78... 81!

Old Zhang's voice cracked completely. He suddenly turned to Wang De'an and shouted at the top of his lungs:

"President Wang! The conversion rate has broken eighty percent!"

...